the SSD Buyers Guide - click to see article
SSD buyers guide
the fastest SSDs - click to read article
the fastest SSDs
the SSD  Bookmarks
the SSD Bookmarks ..

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Storage Resellers & VARs in the UK

Includes company profiles for advertisers and storage VARs featured in our news pages or articles.

UK readers click here for storage news
Megabyte's nephew Cheaperbyte joined
the sales department in a Reading based
storage VAR. He spent all day chirping
away to customers on his mobile.
Hard Drive Degaussers sanitize disks  even when they can't be erased using software
Hard Drive Degaussers & Destroyers
from Storage Heaven
the Fastest SSDs
the SSD Buyers Guide
What's a Solid State Disk?
the Top 10 SSD Companies
the 10 biggest storage companies in 2012?
Predicting Future Flash SSD Performance
SSD Myths and Legends - "write endurance"
Are MLC SSDs Ever Safe in Enterprise Apps?
RAM SSDs versus Flash SSDs - which is Best?
click for more info
91% of Compellent's Customers Want to Evaluate SSDs

Editor:- June 17 , 2009 Compellent today announced results generated through attendee polling conducted at its annual customer conference.

91% of business partners and 78% of customers responded important, very important or critical when asked, "What is your level of interest in evaluating SSDs in your environment?"


WD Ships SiliconDrive III

Editor:- June 16, 2009 - Western Digital Solid State Storage announced that it has begun shipping its new SiliconDrive III SSD product family which includes 2.5" SATA and PATA and 1.8" Micro SATA products with target read speeds up to 100MB/s and write speeds to 80MB/s in capacities up to 120 GB.

"SiliconDrive III is the first example of how WD plans to productize solid state technology developed by SiliconSystems. The launch of SiliconDrive III will also enable WD to leverage its global sales and distribution channels to accelerate the adoption of SSD technology beyond SiliconSystems' traditional embedded systems OEM customer base into data streaming applications such as multimedia content delivery systems and data center media appliances," said Michael Hajeck, senior VP and GM of WD's solid state storage business unit. "SiliconDrive III is an ideal solution for OEMs that require increased performance, capacity, reliability and data throughput in their applications."

Editor's comments:- some oems in the small form factor flash SSD market have earned a bad reputation due to shipping sexy sounding products in volume before the design and qualification process was adequately completed.

In contrast - SiliconSystems' SiliconDrives were never the fastest products in their class - but due to the background of its founders - the company's prime concern was to design SSDs that were reliable and stayed reliable. When WD looked at the spectrum of SSD technologies to acquire - an important consideration was this proven reliability - established in millions of products over many years.

Of all the SSD parameters to tweak - the easiest one is to make a product faster. But. as many other HDD and SSD companies have learned you can't quickly fix a reputation for flaky products.


Notebook SSD Market Overview - is not pretty

Editor:- June 15, 2009 - StorageSearch.com published a new article today called - Overview of the Notebook SSD Market.

There's a simple way to summarize the complex view of the SSD Notebook / Netbook market.

Lots of initial hype and optimism that the market would deliver an astonishingly new product experience to users, followed by dismay and disillusion due to a flurry of poorly conceived, badly designed and ineptly executed products. ...read the article

flash SSD Jargon Explained
typical news flash:- March 2, 2009 - Fast symmetric R/W IOPS high endurance, MLC SSD, with 3 levels of wear-leveling, massive over-provisioning, write attenuation and fast garbage collection provides competitive alternative to RAM SSDs.

Do you understand the list of ingredients in all the solid state drive headlines?

Understanding what goes on inside flash SSDs - can be as important as knowing what you can do with them. See the new article flash SSD Jargon Explained.
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Top 20 Storage Articles - May 2009
  1. the Solid State Disks Buyers Guide
  2. the SSD Bookmarks
  3. War of the Disks: Hard Disk Drives vs. Flash SSDs
  4. SSD Myths and Legends - "write endurance"
  5. the Fastest SSDs
  6. the Top 10 SSD OEMs
  7. NAS, DAS or SAN? - Choosing the Technology
  8. the Benefits of SAS for External Subsystems
  9. Flash Memory vs. Hard Disks - Which Will Win?
  10. RAM SSDs versus Flash SSDs - which is Best?
  11. A Storage Architecture Guide
  12. Are MLC SSDs Ever Safe in Enterprise Apps?
  13. What's a Solid State Disk?
  14. Can you trust flash SSD specs & SSD benchmarks?
  15. Z's Laws - Predicting Flash SSD Performance
  16. Understanding Flash SSD Performance (pdf)
  17. 2009 - Year of SSD Market Confusion
  18. After SSDs... What Next?
  19. 3 Easy Ways to Enter the SSD Market
  20. LVD, SE, HVD, SCSI compatibility - or lack of it
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Z's Laws - Predicting Future Flash SSD Performance
A reader asked me a very good question.

"Is there an industry roadmap for future flash SSD performance?"

That prompted other questions like...
  • How fast are flash SSDs going to be in 2009?, 2010? or 2012?
  • What are the technology factors which relate to flash SSD throughput and IOPS?
  • How close will flash SSDs get to RAM SSD performance?
There wasn't a simple answer I could give at the time. Clues lay scattered all across this web site and in my many one on one discussions with readers about the market...
But I agreed there should be a single place on the web where these answers could be found.

Forget Moore's Law. That gives you the wrong answer, and this article explains why. ...read the article
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Storage Resellers in the UK
Sun VARs UK / Military storage
1st Computer Traders

ACAL Storage Networking

Ardenta

Axstor

Avnet

CMS Peripherals

COLT Telecom

Computacenter

Connexion Point

Consensys

Cristie Data Products

Databarracks

DataSafe Services

Data Duplication

Eurotech Computer Services

Evesham Technology

GE Access

G-Stor

GlassHouse Technologies

Hammer Distribution

HarrierZeuros

Headway Technology Group

Ideal Hardware

Indecs Computers

InTechnology

JAD Logic

JPY

Kingswell

Latitude UK

MCE

Micro Peripherals

MTI (UK)

NCE Computer Group

PerfectBackup

Posetiv

Prob-Solve Solutions

Quadrant Storage Solutions

Reactive Data

Redstor

Sagitta Performance Systems

Selectronix

Selway Moore

Shoden Data Systems

Silicon Systems

SkyStorage

Solution Centre

Source Consulting

SSD Store

Sunbelt System Software

Transtec

TriSys

Ultratec

Willow Starcom

Zycko
Are MLC SSDs Safe in Enterprise Apps?
This is a follow up article to the popular SSD Myths and Legends which, a year earlier demolished the myth that flash memory wear-out (a comfort blanket beloved by many RAM SSD makers) precluded the use of flash in heavy duty datacenters.

This new article looks at the risks posed by MLC Nand Flash SSDs which have recently hatched from their breeeding ground as chip modules in cellphones and morphed into hard disk form factors.
which technology to choose? - read the article It starts down a familiar lane but an unexpected technology twist (which arrived in my email while writing this article) takes you to a startling new world of possibilities. ...read the article
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Can You Trust Your Flash SSD's Specs?
Editor:- I've noticed is that the published specs of flash SSDs change a lot -from the time a product they are first announced, then when they're being sampled, and later again when they are in volume production.

Sometimes the headline numbers get better, sometimes they get worse. There are many good reasons for this.

The product which you carefully qualified may not be identical to the one that's going into your production line for a variety of reasons... ...read the article
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the Fastest Solid State Disks

Speed isn't everything, and it comes at a price.
But if you do need the6speediest SSD then wading through the web sites of over 86 current SSD oems to find a suitable candidate slows you down.

And the SSD search problem will get even worse.
the Fastest Solid State Disks
I predict there will be over 100 SSD oems in 2008.

I've done the research for you to save you time. And this page is updated daily from storage news and direct inputs from oems. ...read the article,
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a Short History of Disk to Disk Backup
STORAGEsearch.com has been reporting on the enterprise D2d market since the concept first began.
This article plots the main events in the market transition from the heady days when tape backup was at its height - through to the situation now where most corporate data is backed on using disk to disk backup. click to read the article - a Short History of  Disk to Disk Backup
In 2008 was the #1 subject viewed by Storage Searchers. ...read the article, Hard disk drives, Backup Software
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